Wright In Context

This strikes me as worth a look. Here is Jeremiah Wright's sermon from which one Hannity clip has been culled. After 9/11, Wright is making a classic pacifist case against what he calls "the insanity of the cycle of hatred." I don't agree with it, and he clearly equates the death of innocents in American warfare with the deaths of innocents in 9/11. But it does fall within the boundaries of a certain kind of Christianity. It does not seem to me to be Chomsky so much as a left-wing Biblical pacifist message. He is also self-critical, which you don't get from the edited version. He is calling Christians to examine "my own and your own relationship with God," in the wake of a moment when we all sought to fight back against the evil of al Qaeda. I don't agree with his moral equivalence. But I do see the roots of this message in a version of liberation theology and Christianity, rather than hatred of America as such. He includes himself as someone who needs to examine his own conscience and consider what he regards as a cycle of violence. I think the cable news clips are a little distortive and make more sense in fuller context.

Let me add that I do not believe that patriotism means never criticizing one's own country, especially if one criticizes one's own complicity in its failings. That's especially true for Christians who are sometimes called to make their fellows very uncomfortable in their loyalties. In the days after 9/11, I would have been furious about that sermon. But from a distance, I do not see it as political so much as a form of radical Christianity. Anyway, see for yourself and make your own mind up:

Here's another piece of fuller context. It's too long for cable news. But that's what the web is for, right?